From the inception of comic books to the current age of superhero movies, strong female characters are few and far between. The strength referred to here is not the ability to bench press a bus, but the characteristic of being able to stand alone without support from a male character. Why aren't there more strong female superheroes? With the sex ratio in just the United States at 96.99% (which means that for every 100 men there are 103.11 women) showing that there are just a few more women than men (StatisticTimes). Would it not stand to reason that this statistic would show up in comic books?
Erik Kain discusses the blatant sexism involved with superhero franchise merchandise. He points out how sexism within the superhero franchise extends outside of their home medium. For example, one of the toys from Marvel’s the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie replaced the only female member of the Avengers with Captain America. The scene from the movie, upon which this toy is based, depicts the heroine, Black Widow, being launched from the quinjet (the Avengers primary mode of transportation) on a motorcycle. The irony of this is that Black Widow rescued Captain America by returning his shield to him in time to fight off the titular villain (Kain). In addition, no Black Widow action figures were created which tied into the movie at all. There was absolutely no reason to exclude Black Widow from production, except maybe gender bias and the stereotype that boys
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don’t want to play or shouldn’t play with female action figures. Contrariwise, DC Comics (the other titan in the comic book industry) alongside their parent company, Warner Brothers, recently joined with a toy manufacturer to try and capture the tween market (DC Comics). Both industry leaders have done a good job at not only marketing the material, but also trying to appeal to girls who may find themselves in a school group or clique. The character Harley Quinn (the mischievous and acrobatic nemesis of Batman and main squeeze of the Joker) is characterized as the class clown. The other characters are labeled as well: Wonder Woman as the leader, Batgirl as the tech-geek, the Asian swordmaster, Katana, as the edgy artist, etc. While these companies are the polar opposite of altruistic, they are reaching out to young girls with not only strong, female heroes, but heroes with styles and personality traits similar to their own. In an article for the US Federal News Service, Dawn Fuller shows how strong female superhero (and superhero-type) characters have grown in number from Buffy to Marvel's Agents of Shield character Agent May. Not only are the characters strong physically (Agent May is purported to be able to beat the Black Widow, who is a Russian trained assassin), but they are strong mentally as well (such as, Marvel's Agents of Shield character Dr. Jemma Simmons, a bio-chemist who holds two PhDs and is an active field agent). Dawn shows that not only do strong female characters exist, but they are just as interesting, if not more so, than their male counterparts (Fuller). So we have seen that sexism exists and that there are strong female characters, but why are there not more superheroines?
Just as young boys need role models, so to do young girls need role models which they can look up to and emulate. Shining examples which exhibit independence, strength, character, and intelligence. Looking at this financially, psychologically, and from a perspective of disconnection, empathy, and unfairness between the sexes will cast a spotlight on the reasons for this lack of heroines to look up
to. To figure out why there isn't a larger list of lady heroes, one can start by paraphrasing "Cherchez le femme" to "Look for the money!" Marketing for comic books is targeted towards a male audience. It stands to reason that a company looking to be profitable would direct its production, along with its advertising, towards the demographic which generates the highest sales. However, a recent article stated: In February [of 2015], the Facebook universe of self-identified comic book fans grew to a new high of over 24 million fans in the United States. Of that 24 million, women account for 46.67% of that population…the highest percentage of women recorded. (Schenker) Having more strong, female superheroes to identify with, young girls will show their love and appreciation by reaching out to them. Jill Lepore told a wonderful story about sharing “her comic book collection with a girl in foster care. After quickly dismissing the Flash and Green Lantern, [her] young pal was instantly enraptured with Wonder Woman.” Then Jill added something profound: “For an 8-year-old girl to see someone who can rescue people, I think it is a great gift” (Gaston). If a little girl would rapidly discard such heavy sellers of the time such as Flash and Green Lantern, then there is an untapped market just waiting. Half of the population may be unaware of this truly great role model due to poor or male-centric marketing. A consistent problem in even modern society is men have difficulty identifying with women. One of the most glaring examples of this was in 1968 Denny O'Neil and Mike Sekowsky, the writer and artist for Wonder Woman respectively, depowered the Amazon princess. Many believe the depowering of a person’s hero in turn leads to the depowering of the person. One of those believers was Gloria Steinem, who had grown up with this strong character. Ms. Steinem proceeded to campaign against DC Comics to return Wonder Woman to her empowered glory. She was so ardent in her crusade that she recalled “the person in charge of Wonder Woman calling me up from DC Comics. He said, ‘Okay. She has her magical powers back, her lasso, her bracelets, she has Paradise Island back, and she has a black African Amazon sister named Nubia. Now will you leave me alone!’ ” (Scanlan). Along with men having difficulty identifying with women, stereotypes have been a recurring stumbling block to how women are perceived. For decades, women have been seen as the weaker sex. Men, in general, have a problem with being bested by a woman. Alongside of identification issues, another possibility for the lack of strong, female superheroes could be the Madonna-Whore Complex (first postulated by Sigmund Freud, the Madonna-Whore Complex can be boiled down to that men see women as either the sinless Madonna or the carnal whore). Many men have trouble seeing women outside of the roles of either nurturing mother or sexual benefactress. Then putting the women in comic books in situations where they are trading punches with the villain du jour, would cause increased difficulties for men to accept. However, women are much stronger than they are given credit for. The recently dethroned women’s MMA champion, Rhonda Rousey, has a record of 12 wins and 1 loss (ESPN). While Ms. Rousey may not be a superheroine and donning a mask anytime soon, it would be logical to presume no man would willingly want to grapple with her. This shows that women are much more diverse than the two extremes. Furthermore, lack of equality between the sexes is prevalent in comic books. No one says "Look, it's a male superhero!" Yet there is always a gender qualifier when discussing a female superhero. Why couldn't there be a female in the origin or situations which male superheroes find themselves in? Marvel's first African-American superhero Luke Cage was wrongly placed in prison and submitted himself to an experiment which hardened his skin and increased his strength; now imagine a woman in the same position, may be willing to take any risk to get out of prison so she can be with her children. Dr. Strange, Marvel's master of the mystic arts, has a female disciple named Clea, who also happens to be his lover; conversely, why couldn't Clea be the master and Strange be her pupil/paramour. Marvel has been making practically brobdingnagian strides in reducing the difficulty in identifying with women. Recently, one of the main Marvel characters, Thor, was revamped: the original male Thor was no longer worthy to wield the hammer which gave him his powers and a new female hero proved worthy of the title of Thor. DC Comics tend to drag their feet when it comes to addressing the lack of equality between the sexes in comic books. They tend to prefer the retcon (retroactive continuity) and tuck it away in a different universe; such as in the remolding of the Batman mythos contained in the Flashpoint series: the Joker was Martha Wayne, who was driven insane because her son Bruce Wayne was gunned down by a criminal right before her eyes. Why waste this rich and promising character on a one-shot which will probably never be revisited again? There is no need to conduct a major retcon of half of the existing characters, but from this point on there really is no reason a character could not be interpreted as female. Identifying with women is not necessarily a huge hurdle because women go through the same struggles as every other human being. They juggle multiple identities such as employee, mother, and wife just as Peter Parker (the amazing Spider-man) juggles his costumed life with his personal life. Women agonize over different aspects of their personality just as Jack Russell, the lycanthropic main character of Werewolf by Night, agonized over his feral alter ego. They feel can feel just as lost in a sexist world as Captain America similarly was feeling displaced when he woke up in the modern world after being placed in suspended animation near the end of the Second World War. As we can see, men can identify with a strong female superhero character just as easily as they could with a male superhero character.Identifying with women is not difficult if you just take a step in the right direction. Definitely one of the most glaring reasons for a lack of strong, female superheroes is the feeling in most men that acknowledging another's abilities diminishes their own. Men, in general, find their machismo to be under attack at the thought they might need to be rescued, especially by a woman. We showed early how Captain America was gladly rescued through the direct actions of the Black Widow. DC Comics’ Wonder Woman was constantly having to rescue Steve Trevor leading to him falling deeply in love with his guardian angel. Captain America did not immediately relinquish his position as leader of the Avengers or role as a superhero because he required and received assistance from Black Widow. Steve Trevor was not drummed out of the military because of his dependence on Wonder Woman. We surround ourselves with friends who are our peers because we have something in common with them, but true, best friends are those who challenge us to be better than we are. Real men are secure enough to understand when they need assistance and strong enough to seek out that assistance regardless of which sex it is. In conclusion, there is no reason the comic book industry could not decide to make every other superhero brainchild a woman, from this moment forward. Female superheroes can be a role model for boys as well as girls, possibly changing the mindset of future generations and tearing down barriers in the current one. It has been proven that the feeble reasons why there are not more strong, female superheroes are lack of focused marketing, inability to identify with women, outmoded thinking, lack of equality, and fear of losing power by the acknowledgment of another’s power. By overcoming these poor judgments, more positive role models can be created which will lead to a stronger generation of women, and even men.
Throughout her book Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist, describes the behaviors and relationships of adolescent teen girls. She explores the issues that most of her patients have in common: parents and divorce, depression, weight, drugs, alcohol, violence, and sex. Pipher provides examples of girls who had suffered from each category, and ends with a generalization that connects each situation to a deeper meaning. Although parents and daughters are somewhat to blame in each occasion, Pipher holds the corrupt modern culture of western society accountable. She believes that the idealized image of girls that the media puts out is the root of most adolescent insecurities. In Reviving Ophelia, Pipher draws attention to the increasing need for female teen awareness and incorporates the methods she suggests to the struggling families.
In this book therapist Mary Pipher writes about her experiences at work with adolescent girls. It is intended to make the reader aware of the perils of being a teenager in today's sexualized and media-saturated culture. She talks about how this new and more hostile environment affects adolescent girls' emotional growth and development, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself while trying to fit in with peers. For the most part this book is Dr. Pipher's attempt to reach out to adolescents, as well as their parents and teachers, and tell them that this "problem without a name" is not a death sentence but rather a journey to adulthood, and tells adults how to help these impressionable young girls through what might be the most trying period of their lives.
Modern day superheroes still reflect the misogynistic and chauvinist society in which they were first created and this will be argued with reference to two of the films studied.
In the first paragraph of Laurie Penny’s essay “What to do when you’re not the hero anymore” she tells the reader how she recently went to see the new Star Wars movie. To her surprise a female character, Rey, fought off a bad guy as an equal. Hollywood has incredible power in how messages are portrayed in books, TV shows, and movies. It is no secret that media representation normalizes the reality of white male power. Penny explores how it is becoming more common to see a women lead in books, movies, and TV shows, rather than the stereotypical male.
Mary Pipher, author of the book Reviving Ophelia, has made many observations concerning young adolescent girls in our society. She wrote this book in 1994, roughly eleven years ago. Although some of her observations made in the past are not still accurate in today’s world, there are many that are still present in 2005. The primary focus of Pipher’s comments is to explain how young girls are no longer being protected within our society.
The representation of female characters in the work may initially come across as acting irrationally, but closer examination shows that in fact their motivations were guided by contemporary values and therefore are more reflective of more positively portrayed characters.
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
However, well beneath the surface of the plotline, the viewer can also find himself or herself looking at a struggle for survival that is greatly affected by the roles of genders. Collins asks many questions regarding this; such as “If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, will this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem? Will boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant, as well? Will girls lack role models? Will adult women feel disenfranchised? Does the under-representation of women constrict societal perspectives and information in important ways?” (Collins). If Becky had not followed the standard gender role that the frame of time presented itself, she may have seen herself surviving the endeavor, despite almost no chance of her doing so. It is one of those things that today’s society may be glad to have moved past, because there is no reason for anyone to lose their life because they rely so heavily on the opposite
In conclusion, Mary Pipher’s main point in writing “Reviving Ophelia” is to reveal how adolescent girls are being neglected and overlooked. We must be willing to look beyond the surface, become involved, and support girls as they develop physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. We must strive for something better for our teens. We cannot keep labeling our “daughters and sisters”, instead we have got to give them a path that leads to self-esteem. The media will give the public what they are search for. Right now that has been women roles that are lessened and more sexualized for the pleasures of men.
Females can be strong but they have to work at it much harder than males because males are just naturally stronger. This is because, “Men are 50 percent stronger than women in brute strength” (drjamesdobson.org). Men are stronger than women because the sex hormone testosterone, is found in high levels in men which gives them a head start in building muscle, “The sex hormone has anabolic effects, meaning it promotes muscle development. Secreted by the pituitary gland, testosterone binds to skeletal fiber cells and stimulates the growth of proteins, the building blocks of meaty muscles” [source: Roundy](science.how...
Tough women are always attractive, scantily dressed, with plunging necklines, and extremely tight leather and spandex. Such is shown in marvel’s Avengers, Black widow is among all male counterparts, she is a russian assassin with a troubled past. She wears a black skin-tight jumpsuit with a low neckline, her physical capabilities and prowess isn’t enough she has to appeal to the male view. Black Widows strength and performance as a strong fearless woman, cannot be seen as progress. Such performance portrays a deep doubt towards female struggle for equality. “The tough woman is testament to a still male-dominant society’s own contradictory responses to women’s demands for equal treatment, equal pay, and equal status. The tough girl is nearly always stripped down (often literally) to what lies at her core, her essential, biological womanliness, her essential subordinate position to man.” (Byerly, Carolyn, Ross
Disney movies have a very narrow view of what women should be like. Since the arrival of the first Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, the idea of it has expanded, but rather marginally. There is a clear distinction of what a young women should be and what she shouldn’t be. Those who do not fit the mold of Disney’s expectations are cast aside to become villains, but those who do, end up becoming the damsel in distress. Ultimately, these stereotypes are what influences young girls who watch these films, and can have devastating effects on their self worth and change their idea of what it means to be a women. Films like Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
To say that girls are different from boys is an understatement. Boys and girls are treated and raised differently while growing up in a patriarchal environment(Chesney-Lind & Sheldon. Chapter 6); the diverse ways in which they mature physically and emotionally, boy’s and girl’s involvement or path that leads to their potential delinquency are worlds apart. In addition, bombardment by role models and advertisements of society plays a large aspect in the differences between boys and girls. The majority of female role m...
In the world of comics, two main publishers dominate: DC Comics and Marvel Comics. DC Comics promotes superheroes such as Batman, a vigilante who began fighting crime solely to avenge the untimely death of his parents. He possesses no unique superhuman ability, other than a substantial fortune inherited from his late parents. Yet, the public in the Batman comics still adore their hero. In contrast, Marvel Comics promotes superheroes such as the X-Men, a team of superheroes who possess the X-Gene, a DNA mutation that gives each member a different ability. Under the leadership of Professor X, this team fights to protect their world from evil. Despite the many accomplishments of the X-Men, society persecutes them. In fact, when the X-Men first try to recruit Wolverine, he refuses: "Be an X-Men? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a mutant. The world out there is full of people who hate and fear you and you're wasting your time trying to protect them?" (Housel 140) Because the people view the X-Men as mutants, not humans, they refuse to treat them as equals. Consequently, Marvel's comic series X-Men discusses the philosophical dichotomy of equal human rights versus discrimination, revealing that everyone deserves human rights even if they are different.
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish. This was an astonishing change for the American industry of film. Sometime later, in 1984, Linda Hamilton starred in ‘The Terminator’, a film where she was not the leading character, but a strong female character as Sarah Connor. She had a combination of masculine and feminine qualities as “an androgynous superwoman, resourceful, competent and courageous, while at the same time caring, sensitive and intuitive” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47). These changes made in action films for female’s roles stirred up a lot of excitement in the “Western society” (Starlet, 2007). The demand for strong female characters in action films grew to a new high when Angelina Jolie starred in ‘Tomb Raider’ in 2001 and then in the sequel, ‘Tomb Raider II: The Cradle of Life’ in 2003 as Lara Croft. Her strong female character was not only masculine, but was also portrayed as a sex object. Most often, strong women in these types of films tend to fight without even gaining a mark. At the end of each fight, her hair and makeup would always be perfect. The female characters in these action films, whether their role was as the lead character or a supporting character, had similar aspects. I...